The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things, from simple trips to the grocery to family gatherings. But despite the tumultuous times, one thing hasn’t changed: Spahn & Rose’s commitment to giving back to the communities it serves.
While Spahn & Rose has continually adjusted throughout the pandemic to safely provide lumber and building materials to those in eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois and southwest Wisconsin, the Spahn & Rose Foundation has remained steadfast as well in support of local charitable organizations.
Established in 1950, the Foundation supports programs that provide services related to higher education, healthy communities and at-risk youth. Over the last three years, the Foundation has donated more than $386,000 to a wide range of nonprofit groups and other worthy causes.
During the course of this year, Spahn & Rose contributed to dozens of local organizations that provide a broad range of community services. Among the groups that received Spahn & Rose Foundation donations were Crescent Community Health Center, Fountain of Youth and the Iowa Sports Foundation. Here’s how each one stood up to help:
Crescent Community Health Center
Located in a new facility in Dubuque, Crescent Community Health Center help all those in need of medical or dental care. It serves people of any age, from any region, with or without insurance. Accepting patients every day, Crescent focuses on providing primary care to patients and referrals for specialty care.
A coming addition to the center’s offerings is the Spahn & Rose–sponsored Wellness Center. Open to the public beginning in 2021, the Wellness Center will provide exercise equipment such as treadmills and spin bikes.
“The Wellness Center will have broad community appeal,” says Spahn & Rose CEO Dave Davis. “This is the right thing for us to do. It’s the kind of place that will help and be good for Dubuque. The Wellness Center really connects with the Spahn & Rose Foundation’s reason for existence.”
This Dubuque-based nonprofit seeks to change the conventional mindset about generational poverty, which has become one of the greatest threats to communities across America. Fountain of Youth created a model of mentorship and a plan to help end the generational-poverty cycle. Believing in giving a hand up, not a handout, the organization provides training in job and life skills along with mentoring and job placement. The Fountain of Youth model acknowledges and celebrates important personal achievements no matter the size; these achievements initiate the change through personal and professional development that ultimately produces major transformative success stories.
When Fountain of Youth constructed its office in 2017, Spahn & Rose donated building materials, including decking and a hydroponic garden. CEO Davis has since served on the group’s Development Committee.
“The partnership between Spahn & Rose and the Fountain of Youth creates an important opportunity for individuals experiencing poverty to pursue gainful employment,” says Caprice Jones, Fountain of Youth’s founder and executive director. “This is hopefully just the beginning.”
Davis is excited about what the job-placement partnership can do for the community.
“We’ll start small, perhaps one or two hires, and hopefully build a model that other area businesses can learn from and adopt,” Davis says. “We hope to be part of a support system for those coming out of a struggling situation. This program is a pipeline back into society.”
This year, the Spahn & Rose Foundation renewed its relationship with the Iowa Sports Foundation, which supports programs such as Iowa Games and Live Healthy Iowa. Iowa Sports’ mission is to provide athletics, recreation, health and wellness opportunities for Iowans of all abilities.
“In everything we do, we relate back to the company’s core values,” Davis says. “One of our core values is being committed to giving back to the communities we serve.”
Big Red Check Celebration Planned for December
One cherished annual tradition at Spahn & Rose is Big Red Check day in December. Each year at its Dubuque location, Spahn & Rose invites representatives from local charitable organizations to celebrate and receive large “checks” representing the company’s contribution over the past year. With appropriate pandemic safety measures in place, the Spahn & Rose Foundation is still planning some sort of Big Red Check celebration for 2020, which will be announced soon.
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